Losing Sight of the Rainbow in the storm clouds

​I was taking a walk yesterday afternoon. I'd looked at the radar before I took off and knew storms were in the area. As a precaution, then, I decided to walk on the nearby college track where there would be shelter available.

Sure enough, the storms rolled in. I could see them in the distance and thought about cutting the walk short, but decided to wait it out.

I'm glad I did. In the aftermath of the storms I witnessed what might be the most brilliant rainbow I've ever seen. It was like the colors had been freshly painted, still drying, not a flake or a chip to be found.

Many of us are familiar with the story in Genesis. Noah and his family have just spend 40 days and nights in an historic flood. God had gotten a little ticked at the evil in the world and decided to start over. As Noah and his family emerged from the boat, there was a rainbow. God told Noah the rainbow would be his personal reminder to never flood the world again.

I guess some could see that as God's old age - memory issues - so significant are they that he needs a reminder not to wipe out the earth again with a flood?

I don't think so. I think God was offering us, in terms as human as he could come up with, some assurance that he's going to be there when the storms in our life clear. I don't think God was saying I've put this rainbow here in case "I" can't remember - I think it was more a command to say don't "You" ever forget.

How miraculous is it, really, that embedded in the darkest and most turbulent of storm clouds rests this peaceful display of beauty. One minute I was huddled in a breezeway protecting myself from the wind-driven rain. The next, I'm climbing wet bleachers to take a picture of what had to be the most beautiful scene on the planet in that moment.

At least on my planet.

That rainbow was a beautiful reminder that on the other side of a thunderstorm, the sun shines through again. It's also a reminder that on the other side of a pandemic, on the other side of this challenging storm so many of us are going through right now, there is a rainbow. But you have to climb the bleachers to look for it.

I've been through storms in my life. Many. And for years, in the midst of them, I kept focusing on the dark clouds. I was drawn to them. They were magnets. It's not that the rainbow wasn't there, I just insisted on entering the storms.

Christ has become a rainbow in my life. I assure you it's not a rainbow that guarantees there are no more storms. Not at all. The only guarantee is that on the other side of the storm there will be a rainbow. But sometimes you have to wait for it. And sometimes you have to do a little climbing to see it.

But the rainbow is there. As a command: don't ever forget.